All 49ers

CBS Sports Predicts 49ers to Win NFC West

The experts seem cautiously optimistic about the 49ers this year.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

The experts seem cautiously optimistic about the 49ers this year.

Sure, they won just six games last season, missed the playoffs, lost nine starting players this offseason and added zero through trades or free agency. But they have some key players coming back from injury plus an easy schedule.

And that's a big reason why CBS Sports predicts the 49ers to finish first in the NFC West this year.

"The 49ers go from worst to first in the NFC West, continuing a trend of big pushes and big drop-offs under Kyle Shanahan, as Brock Purdy settles in with his new contract to make another January run," writes CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin.

For the 49ers to win their division, a few things would have to go their way.

1. Christian McCaffrey will have to play like he did before he had bilateral Achilles tendonitis, which might not be physically possible.

2. Trent Williams will have to play at least 13 games.

3. Three or four rookies will have to play big roles at a high level.

4. Brock Purdy will have to play better late in close games. He has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL in those situations so far in his career.

5. Kyle Shanahan will have to evolve his offense. The days of giving the ball to Christian McCaffrey as much as possible are over.

That's a lot that has to go the 49ers way. I'm thinking they're more likely to miss the playoffs again.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News